SDDC Manager is used to create a workload domain which is wizard driven with automated host selection

There are current 2 different workload domains which can be deployed:

vDI workload domain

VI workload domain (Virtual Infrastructure or can call it IAAS)

Requires about 45 minutes to deploy which is crazy if you think about it since I installs ESXi on each host, install and configure networks, physical ports, vCenter Server, VSAN and NSX and have it ready to just deploy your VMs.

You can deploy as many workload domains as required.

Seamless expansion with additional hosts

Policy based control:

Capacity, performance, availability (networking, security)

Automated deletion and reclamation of capacity

Workload domain can be expanded, deleted as well as patched/updated through lifecycle management.

VIA was pretty awesome to see! I do hope in the future that this product will be integrated into SDDC manager so you don’t have to switch between the two.

VIA provides a UI from where all the necessary information is entered to setup the initial environment. It will install the ESXi hosts, vCenter Server, VSAN and NSX software as well as all the necessary networks.

VMware announced yesterday the upcoming release of VMware Cloud Foundations which is its first SDDC solution and provides a natively-integrated infrastructure stack.

I was one of the lucky ones to get invited and attend VMware’s first ever bootcamp session on VMware Cloud Foundations and it did not disappoint. We got some first hand knowledge of the product and its offerings and here is what I learned.

To start off with what exactly is Cloud Foundations.

Its a software defined solution which integrates vSphere, VSAN and NSX into a single platform.

It provides a common foundation across clouds with flexible deployment options and primary focus is on simplifying deployment and operations.

Cloud foundation can run in private and public cloud.

Both private and public cloud faces a problem of availability with being able to move data across private and public cloud. This is where Cloud Foundations can build a common base and with the use of NSX can create a universal transport zone which provides the connectivity necessary to move your workload between sites.

Two different deployments:

Customer self-deployment onsite

Factory pre-loaded

Private cloud:

Ready systems:

Qualified VSAN ready nodes – DELL, QCT, HP

Qualified networking – Cisco 9k, Arista 7500 (Northbound L2,L3)

Integrated systems:

VxRack 1000 SDDC

Public cloud:

Cloud service provider

IBM SoftLayer (Q3 2016 GA)

Vmware vCloud air Network (vCAN)

Vmware vCloud air

In my next couple of posts I will provide a bit more detail on the Cloud Foundation private cloud components and installation. These posts will only cover my notes from the bootcamp session so apologies for any mistakes and do let me know if you find any. I will also update the posts in future when more information is available.

With the first keynote completed by Pat Gelsinger, VMware gave a tech preview of there new SAAS offering which provides visibility vSphere and non-vSphere private and public clouds. The non-vSphere public clouds being the most interesting here since they will support IBM, Amazon, Google and Azure. This is huge since customers want choice and this provides the opportunity for hybrid cloud solutions.

This new service will provide a single pane of glass to manage all private and public clouds with additional ability to migrate workloads between VMware Cloud foundation and external cloud service providers. It also provides the following functionality: